Bowman, David
Bowman, David Henry Clemens
December 16, 1936 - October 11, 2024With great sorrow we announce the passing of David Henry Clemens Bowman on October 11, 2024. David was born in Guelph on December 16, 1936, to Clemens Howard Bowman and Grace (Dawson) Bowman, and was raised on their farm in Ariss. He excelled from childhood in mathematics and the sciences. His brother Donald said that the older boys never harassed him in the schoolyard because he helped them all with their math homework. He attended GCVI and the University of Toronto, and earned his PhD in Nuclear Physics at the University of Waterloo.
While in university, David spent his summers prospecting in the Yukon. After graduation he worked as a research scientist at Uniroyal. On retirement he volunteered in Laos for the Mennonite Central Committee, experimenting with biochar fertilizers to assist displaced Laotian hill farmers to improve efficiency of their farming techniques, for repeated cultivation of soils. When not in Laos he was an active member of Dublin St. United Church.
David travelled widely, in Laos, Indonesia, the Greek Islands (by sailboat), and throughout Europe and North America. He met his wife Ingrid Gulbis while hiking in the Adirondacks. On their marriage he bought and renovated the schoolhouse in Ariss which he had attended as a student, and settled there. No matter where he travelled, Ariss was always his home.
Throughout his life, David was happiest outdoors. He was an enthusiastic hiker and camper, and an acute observer of the natural world, from which he drew great comfort and solace in hard times. For him, as for G. K. Chesterton, “it was not merely a world full of miracles: it was a miraculous world.”David’s constant curiosity and keen intellectual engagement with every aspect of the world around him will be remembered by everyone who knew him, as well as his kindness, his compassion, and his gentle, charitable spirit.
David is predeceased by his beloved wife Ingrid, his brother Donald, and his grandson Jeremy. He leaves behind his children Lilija and Arthur, his grandchildren Chris, Sam and Luke Bowman, his sister-in-law Marjorie, and many extended family members and friends. We all miss him more than we can say.
A celebration of David’s life will be held in the spring at Dublin St. United Church (details to be announced). In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Mennonite Central Committee, Dublin St. United Church, or the Nature Conservancy.
